Kolkata, March 25 (IANS) In an initiative to make cinema viewing affordable for people from rural areas of the state, renowned filmmaker Goutam Ghose Monday called for reinstating single-screen theatres and establishing mini-plexes across West Bengal.

"Rural people cannot afford to pay high prices for tickets to enjoy a movie. More single-screen theatres will enable them to watch movies at an affordable rate," Ghose said at a media conference here.

"Single-screen theatres are not viable, so there has to be a minimum capital investment in these projects," he added.

Director of films like "Paar", "Dekha" and "Abar Aranye", Ghose also stressed the need to develop mini cine-plexes at different locations to promote films.

Welcoming the initiative, West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra said: "We will help regenerate single-screen. Besides, we will reverse the shooting culture so that international projects will be shot here. Now not only Bollywood, but the south Indian film industry is also choosing to shoot films here."